Harvester-tongue



(No Model.) 7 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. S. DAVIS.

HARVESTER TONGUE. No. 457,185. Patented Aug. 4 1891.

(N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J! SI HARVBSTBR TONGUE.

No.457,185. PatentedAugA, 1891.

5440mm 175702 451.1)d0'i8 UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEICE.

I JOHN s. DAVIS, or CLEVELAND, OHI-O.

HARVESTER-TONGUE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 457,185, dated August4, 1891. Application filed June 9, 1890. Serial No. 354,745. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN S. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga, State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Harvester-Tongues; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use the same.

It relates to the manner of pivoting the tongue and supporting orbalancing its free end by means of a spring; and its objects are torelieve the horses necks from the weight of apivoted or free tongue, andalso to utilize the weight and leverage of the tongue when applied atthe front end of a harvester wheelframe to aid in counterbalancing theweight of a platform pivotally connected to the rear end of thewheel-frame.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown myinvention as applied to aharvester.

similar in its general features to the machines shown in many of mypreviously-granted pat-1 cuts, but more particularly in Patent N 0.

368,280, dated August 16, 1887, or No. 392,721,- dated November 13,1888. The details are designed to meet the particular requirement ofthis form of harvester; but, obviously, some of them might be usedwithout the others, and

many changes within the skill of a good me-' chanic might be made toadapt the invention to other forms of harvesters or vehicles employingloosely-pivoted tongues, without departing from the spirit of myinvention, as hereinafter set forth in the claims.

Figure l is a general plan view of the harvester to illustrate theapplication of my invention in its preferred form. Fig. 2 is an outsideelevation of the same, as seen from the stubble side of the machine.Fig. 3 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the front end ofthe harvester wheel-frame and the tongue hinged thereto and thebalancingspring applied at the heel end of the tongue. Fig. 4 is adetailed view, in horizontal section, through the center of thetongue-pivot. Fig. 5 is a view of a portion of the mechanism similar toFig. 3 and showing the application of the holding-dog for winding up thespring.

The driving-wheel A is surrounded by the wheel-frame B, its axle a beingmounted in bearing-hangers bon the frame. At its rear end thewheel-frame is pivotally connected to the front outer corner of theplatform 0 by the pivot-pin c, and the rear side of the platform issupported by a caster-wheel D. A tilting-lever E is rigidly attached tothe shoe (2 on the platform or to any other convenient place on theplatform or binderframe F and extends up-to a position where it willstand within easy reach of the driver when in his seat. This lever maybe provided with any suitable detent bolt and rack to hold it in thedesired position to which it may be moved in raising or tilting thecutterbar d on the platform.

The tongue G is pivoted on the bolt H between the lugs I 11 on the frontof the wheelframe, a sleeve or thimble g, fitted into the tongue, takingthe wear of the bolt. The tongue-brace J, consisting, preferably, of aflat bar of iron, is pivoted on the bolt H,whicl1is screwed through thethreaded hole in the bracket or lug h, and passes through a small sleeveor thimblej in the brace. Aratchetwheel K is mounted on the bolt justbeside the lug d, and has a projection 70, over which is hooked one endof a spiral spring L, wound around the pivot-bolt, its other end Zextending under the frame-bar or any other suitable stop. A dog or pawlM is pivoted on a bracket N, securely fastened to the tongue'by a boltn, and engages the teeth of the ratchetwheel, as clearly shown in Figs.3 and 5, its heavily-weighted tail m serving to hold it into engagementwithout the use of a spring. In order to prevent the spring from bearingtoo hard upon and cutting into the pivot-bolt, I interpose between thema sleeve or thimble O, which consists of a plain piece of iron pipe,fitted at one end upon a reduced portion of the ratchet-wheel hub and atthe other upon a thimble 0, which is mounted on the bolt. The spring maybe wound up in many ways; butI prefer to do so by means of a small loosedog P. (Shown in Figs. 5and 6 of the drawings.) It is shaped with asquare notch p at one end, which fits over the corner of the frontframe-bar, and is adapted at the other to engage the teeth of theratchet-wheel by either one of its two points Q or q. When the spring isto be wound up, the dog is placed in the position shown in Flg. 5, sothat itwill hold the wheel K against backward rotation. The free end ofthe tongue is then raised, the pawl M slipping over the ratchet-teeth asthe tongue goes up, but engaging one of them as the tongue comes down,turns the wheel, and tightens the spring. This operation must berepeated until the desired tension is put upon the spring, while thespring may be unwound by the reversal of the operation. I prefer to putthe spring under enough strain to enable it to nearly balance the freeend of the tongue. By this means I not only take most of the weight offthe horses necks, but I produce a very desirable result in balancing themachine on the axle of the main wheel, and thereby greatly relieve thestrain or load on the tiltlever. Where the tongue is simply pivoted tothe front of the main frame a portion only of its weight, together withthat of the driver whose seat S is mounted by a spring-standard s on thefoot-board T, beingin front of the main axle, tends to counterbalancetheweight of the platform, &c.,behindit; but if the tonguewere rigidlyconnected to the frame its entire weight, and in addition thereto thetremendous increase in effect due to the length or leverage of thetongue,would add largely to its effective balancing-power without addingto the actual weight of the harvester as a whole. Now, in view of thefact that the wheel-frame rocks and changes its angle relatively to thetongue when the front edge of the platform is raised and lowered, it isimpossible to have a rigidlyconnected tongue; but I secure substantiallythe same result by employing a long powerful spring at a tension thatwill just about balance the tongue, and yet of such a length that thechange of angle between the tongue and frame will not add materially toits force or tension and overbalance the tongue when the angle is mostacute.

Other forms of springs might be employed and the means of attaching andadjusting them varied through a wide range, and quite a number of suchchanges have been considered by me; but for present purposes I preferthe arrangement shown, as it is the neatest, most compact, and mostreadily applied to my present machine of any that I have had underconsideration.

In the arrangement of parts shown in the drawings the seat is so locatedthat the drivers weight falls principally behind the axis of thetongue-pivot, and therefore tends to counterbalance the tongue. Now avery light man in the seat might not have much elfect in balancing thetongue, and the springtension may be increased to compensate for lack ofweight of the driver until the desired effect is secured, or if a veryheavy man were. to drive the tension should be diminished to correspondwith his weight.

What I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination of the wheel-frame, the tongue hinged thereto, thepivot-bolt, and the ratchet-wheel and coil-spring mounted on thepivot-bolt, one end of the spring being connected to the ratchet-wheeland the other end to the wheel-frame, with a pawl pivoted on the tongueand taking into the ratchet-wheel, substantially as hereinbefore setforth.

2. The combination of the wheel-frame, the tongue hinged thereto, thespring and the ratchet-wheel, the pawl pivoted on the tongue andengaging the ratchet, and the loose dog arranged to fit against theframe and into the teeth of the ratchet, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand this 7th day of June, 1890,at Cleveland, Ohio.

JOHN S. DAVIS.

